The cliff edges nearer because May doesn’t want to split party!

We need to be more self sufficient in the basics. We are obsessed with importing. My salad today was from Spain, Italy and Morocco. That’s not environmentally friendly nor is just in time. We have to start investing in our own country and exporting. The Scandinavian countries have such small populations most the size of London, a different proposition when you have nearly 70 million. Taxpayers pay a tariff at the moment as a form of subscription.

Lyndie I agree re buying more local and seasonal too. But not sure we could replicate the quantity and range of fruits and vegetables the public currently expect/need. We currently need to use immigrant workers to get in the harvests we already have & I can't see we will have sufficient locals to take the additional work on.. which is why we have seasonal workers in the first place.
We will have to get used to paying more and having less choice

Apparently the large supermarkets have a choice of 50,000
Products. I live in the SW and locals do the majority of the jobs. Although it’s not the same in all parts of the country as you say PECS.

We cannot be self sufficient in food. We couldn't do it in WWII and there are now some 20 million more mouths to feed. (WWII population 45 million, current population 65 million).

My thoughts exactly GabriellaG54

I’m not sure why people clamouring for Brexit have so much faith in our politicians to be capable of achieving marvellous trade deals, boost the economy, become self sufficient in just about everything, when the current bunch have just led us into political crisis and economic decline. A friend’s daughter is a civil servant who has just been moved from her current job in a key department, along with 200 others from the same department to work on data protection after Brexit. None knows what they are doing , which seems to consist of phoning round companies and telling them what probably will or won’t happen. I also have a lawyer friend who has come out of retirement to work for the government on Brexit. She should publish her thoughts on this as it’s hilarious. Piss up and brewery come to mind. Plus she’s getting paid shedloads. Hope you May supporters still convinced she is doing a great job and our government will be looking after everyone’s interests and not just their cronies, and you are all so pleased with how things are going.

petra, could you please give links and information about live animal exports being enforced on us by EU rules. I am truly interested.

And also about UK lamb exported to FRance and being sold as French lamb. These are very important statements you made, and I really would like to have more factual information. Thanks.

Lyndie if you insist on eating salad at this time of year you can be sure it will be imported. The only way we can be self sufficient is to eat whatever is in season.

Good post Crystal I have known for a long time that civil servants have been moved from their normal department and back filled with new staff. All the negotiations will be being done by CSs with MPs just being the figureheads. We have seen with the ferry debacle that some of them are not very good at their jobs but I doubt if anyone will lose their job as a result.

Even if Brexit stopped today there would be a huge bill to reduce the CS to its original numbers. So many who complain about the cost of the EU seem to be unaware of the cost of leaving.

The only way we can be self sufficient is to eat whatever is in season.

We really can't be self sufficient, nonnie. We haven't been self sufficient for a long, long, time. Even if we only eat stuff that's in season.

We could never grow enough wheat for the bread alone!

or the tea & coffee! or chocolate....

Maizie & PECS that was the point I was trying to make to Lyndie who said she had eaten salad from outside the UK.

And again Mrs May refuses to say that the NHS will be safe from a Deal with Trump's USA

Do you really fancy a USA style halth care system? Really. 350m was a lie- and now NHS is up for sale to Trump- and people call it 'taking back control?'. Perhaps should be on the Trade's thread.

According to Isabel Hardman, writing in the right wing magazine The Spectator,

"Tory MPs in the European Research Group have spent this evening meeting with chief whip Julian Smith which is supposed to quell the threat of a government defeat tomorrow. The amendable motion that MPs will be voting on has gone from promising a 'Valentine's Day massacre' to being something rather boring, and back to threatening drama in the space of a few days. The reason for this change is that the motion isn't written to Brexiteers' satisfaction. It currently reads:

‘That this House welcomes the Prime Minister’s statement of 12 February 2019; reiterates its support for the approach to leaving the EU expressed by this House on 29 January 2019 and notes that discussions between the UK and the EU on the Northern Ireland backstop are ongoing.’

The problem the ERG has is that by supporting the approach expressed by the House on 29 January, MPs are effectively saying that no deal is off the table, thanks to the motion tabled by Caroline Spelman and Jack Dromey that MPs passed on that date. This was not a legally binding motion, but Spelman has argued that it is ‘morally binding’. Brexiteer Tories want tomorrow’s motion to make clear that no deal remains an option, arguing that otherwise Theresa May will have a much weaker hand in her dealings with Brussels."

I am glad to say that my own MP, who has been listed as a member of the ERG, has said categorically that there is no chance at all of a no-deal brexit happening. So we have a split, not only in parliament, not only in the Tory party, but also in the ERG party-within-a-party.

and now the NHS is up for sale to trump
Absolute hogwash ( that's the polite way of putting it)

Hope with all my might you are right petra but I am not holding my breath!

We do actually grow enough Wheat most years, the yields have increased greatly since WW2, we do however import some Canadian high protein wheat to increase the quality.
We have a lamb surplus which is exported, Beef is in deficit, made up by imports mostly from Ireland.

If needed food production could be increased, if shortages caused price increases that would be an incentive to produce more and 80% of demand could be achieved.

But there isn’t going to be a food shortage because although Dover will be a problem othe ports around the country will take more. There is likely to be some disruption of some imports and consumers will have to buy an alternative, that is a far cry from starvation

I do not think anyone was imagining starving! Just changes that may or may not cause a rise in the cost of weekly shopping and inability to buy things that have become staples. Ans all avoidable too!

Scotland is the ONLY country in the UK who consistently year on year since records began has EXPORTS that are higher than our imports .WE also can be self sufficient in power and water .We need to walk away from the bloody westminster clowns .We balance our budget every year and yet we only have £46% of our income to do it on.WM takes the rest and thast not counting OIL ....thats the oil they said was running out in 2014 and yet in the past months we've been told of Trillions of pounds worth still to be brought up and more licenses sold.Still wonder why WM wants to hold onto us?? WE voted remain .

Oh and we only get 8% of the tax revenue on the oil WM has the other 92% ...bitter ...you bet I am !

Yes, funny how Scottish oil was allegedly running out at the time of the vote paddyann but as it was Cameron in power you surely cannot imagine that it was a con! ?

'Scottish' oil has been very good to many families including those in England, including mine.
Sat diving is not a doddle but it paid/ pays well and provided us with luxuries that the income from many other jobs would not match, not by a long chalk.

Missed the point.

I am so excited about WTO upon leaving the EU cesspit. great times ahead and free of being governed by the vile corrupt EU. No deal is the only real Brexit, all other "deals" are remain.

Love this forum

I see that Mark Carney has dropped his project fear rhetoric. He's started talking a bit more positively about the uk post Brexit.